Page 164 of Between Soul and Vessel
“I needed time to think,” he said, his voice hitting that rich, deep timbre. I could still remember the way his chest had rumbled when he spoke, when I’d laid my head against him each night as he ran his fingers through my hair and told me about his past, about the battles he’d fought, the armies he’d led, the things he haddone for the emperor. The good and the bad. Throughout it all, I had still fallen for him.
“What?” I asked, my feet drawing me back as he approached, keeping the distance between us. It wasn’t because I feared him; it was because I feared what he would do to my heart if I let him get too close.
“I planned to return to you, but when I came back here to speak to the emperor about my intentions, he told me something—a truth I could feel with every fiber of my being, and it made me hesitant.”
“Well, whatever it was, I hope it was worth losing me.” My back landed against the wall. I looked from side to side, deciding where to dart to next, but Nockrythiam was quick, killing the space between us.
“If I have truly lost you, then why does your heart quicken as I draw closer to you? Just as it did when we were trapped together for all those months,” he pressed, his hand clasping my chin, lifting my face to his. “And do not lie to me and say it is because you fear me. We both know that isn’t true.”
Venom seeped onto my tongue. I wanted to spit it at him. To yell at him. To scream. To tear my chest open and show him what he’d done to my heart. I wanted to show him all the pieces I’d had to glue together after he’d shattered it apart.
But . . . I could not.
Because even though he had hurt me in the end, the good memories overpowered the bad.
There had been a time when I wanted him more thananything.
In truth?
I still did.
Damn it all, I was the stupid girl from the fable, and I was destined to be devoured by the dragon standing before me. So what was the point in fighting it anymore?
“Tell me then,” I stated, the anger in my voice slowly beginning to fade. “Tell me what it was that the emperor told you that made you decide not to return to me.”
“He told me who you really are. He told me of the threats that would come your way should the empress ever discover the truth. I never gave up on you. I just needed time to figure out how I was going to protect you, and I knew that bringing you to this castle was the last place you should be. But somehow, the empress discovered what you are to me, and she brought you here, which forced my hand.”
“You are telling me a lot of things but giving me very little context.” I shook my head, trying to make sense of a puzzle I had only been given a few pieces to.
“I’ll tell you everything,” he promised me. “But first, there is someone waiting to speak with you.”
“Where are we?” I asked a short while later as we stepped into a tower, completely open all they way up to the ceiling. Twisting vines, tall trees, and lush green plants grew around us, painting the towering structure in the colors of life. Birds cooed softly from their resting places. A monarchbutterfly floated past me, before it settled on a blooming daisy.
“The Creator’s Tower,” Nockrythiam replied, his hand in mine as he walked us forward. He guided the wispy branches of a willow tree to the side, and we stepped through them. Under the canopy of the breathtaking tree, sitting in front of a desk carved from wood, was Emperor Alaric.
Swiftly, I bowed my head.
His laughter was soft and pleasant and heartwarming as it reached my ears. The chair lurched behind him as he stood and walked over to us. Gently, he clasped my shoulders. “You do not need to bow to me.”
Looking up, I asked him, “Isn’t that what I’m supposed to do?”
“No.” He paused, his eyes meeting mine. “You are my daughter, which means you bow to no one.”
Daughter? No. That couldn’t be.
Herulf was my father.
“Sorry. You must be mistaken,” I said, shaking my head in disbelief, but my words were clipped short as his eyes flashed white, and suddenly, I was seeing through them—from the day my soul rose from his anvil, to the day he saw my mother dancing in the moonlight, to the day I drew my very first breath, my mother taking me in her arms, crying tears of joy and everything that followed. Then came a memory of when he had appeared to me as a deer with a white marking on its neck, racing through the forest, drawing metoward—
I gasped, realization dawning. “You were the reason we were trapped in that hole, weren’t you? You were the deer! Leading me toward it.”
“I was,” he answered, a mischievous twinkle in his eye.
“Why?”
“I wanted you two to have that time together, away from prying eyes,” he answered, his voice kind. “Away from everything and everyone. Away from her.”
“You know, most parents arrange courting sessions for their children. They don’t trap them in a hole in the ground for months on end with a dragon.” I didn’t bother to hide the sarcasm in my tone.
